Some of us have not changed our home gateway router from the day we had our broadband installed, and that might be many moons ago. If you are one of those persons, maybe it’s time to consider upgrading gateway router. You might ask why you should if it’s working fine? Which is a perfectly and valid question and I can think of two reasons why you should: Better security and better speed. My plan is to make it easy for you because I have done the search, the check and the test of some of the latest and best routers so that it will help you to make an informed decision when you go to buy your router.

IoT (Internet of Things) is one of the most exciting things in technology at the moment and Marvell is positioning itself to provide the necessary solutions for OEMs to capitalise on this growing market. Marvell said they have a number of chips and reference designs with the necessary software that takes manufactures from quick prototyping to production in a short time.

If you have not considered getting a home automation kit then maybe now is the time to think about getting one. You might not see what the craze is in sticking up gadgets around your home to monitor it, but there is a lot gain from having a reasonable priced home automation kit. Behind all the technology is the idea of having a connected home, one where all home appliances are able to communication with each other and you are able to communication with then at home or while you are away. With a home automation kit, you can monitor your home and your microwave, refrigerator, home entertainment system and washing machine will allow you to communication with them from work on the road or from anywhere there is an internet connection.

At the recent IFA in Berlin Panasonic showcased a host of connected lifestyle solutions under the slogan ‘A Better Life, A Better World’. The product and services on display were focused on the themes family gathering, relaxation, of food preparation, and beauty and health. They can be placed the different rooms in our homes to enhance the activity or experience of the environment. Panasonic said they want to create a connected lifestyle we all desire that is technically possible within the next five years.

I was a reading the summery of a recent report by NextMarket and Vivint, titled ‘The Mass Market Smart Home”. In it, the authors are proposing that the connected home sector should create more use cases to drive adoption among the general public. Another report I read states that 70 per cent of connected home developers are enthusiasts. As an analyst of the sector, I think these are worrying numbers; even more worrying for entrepreneur and the investors, who are investing so much into connected home solutions.

Earlier this month the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a warning about the risks of having our connected devices being hacked. They have also made some suggestions on how we can protect our privacy, home and business from hackers. Google also recently released one of these recommendations on how to secure our home wireless network. The FBI suggested nine things we can do, which I think are easy for anyone to do.

Our readers might remember the Google Chromecast, a dongle introduced lost year to offer over-the-top entertainment solutions for TVs. To extend Google cast support and in collaboration with Broadcom, Denon has developed a new line of HEOS multi-room wireless speakers. Denon said, the new Google Cast Ready speakers will allow users to cast their favourite music Apps via any Android or Apple iOS mobile device via their home Wi-Fi network.

It’s just over a year now that Samsung acquired SmartThings, and to show us what they have been doing with SmartThings since the acquisition, they were at IFA in Berlin. At the show, they launched an upgraded version of the SmartThings Hub with a new design and a more powerful processor to support video monitoring; now called the “Smarthub” and a range of sensors. They have also used the opportunity to announce products for the UK connected homes.

Intel has announced the release of a number of processor technologies that will improve the speed of home gateway devices and allow service providers to boost the speed of their backend systems. The new chipsets include the Intel AnyWAN GRX550 for xDSL and Fibre home gateways, Intel Puma 7 SoC for cable gateways and Intel Visual Compute Accelerator for Xeon based servers.

CES 2015 was the first I heard of Nvidia DRIVE studio software, a package that can be used to develop car infotainment solutions. For this year’s show Nvidia collaborated with Renovo Motors to develop a 500 horsepower all electric coupe. As a first the car featured the Nvidia Tegra X1 mobile super chip which can offer over one teraflaps of processing power.